


Mechanical Heartbeat

by Maraienna (Mara360)



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, Family, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Issues, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27625607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara360/pseuds/Maraienna
Summary: Rin has been feeling restless lately. He decides to visit a friend to try to see if he can sort out these feelings...
Relationships: White | Rin/Zuke (No Straight Roads)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 137





	1. The Rhythm of Life

Rin sighed as he laid on one of the many couches at Barraca Mansion. It had been a slow concert season - not to say that he hadn’t been busy. Neon J and the rest of his fellow 1010 bandmates had all been working their metal chassis off between rehearsals, public outings, and the occasional minor misbehavior that Rin had to cover for. The usual.

However, the usual seemed to drag on for longer and longer recently. Though it wasn’t to say any of it was bad. It was just all the same. Rin believed he could deal with the same schedule day in and day out - he was programmed to do that after all. It shouldn’t be boring him so much or leaving such a strange, hollow feeling inside of him.

Yet, as Rin sat there staring at the ceiling, watching the seconds tick by, each second felt like it was getting longer and longer. He’d decided earlier to give himself an extra charge in case he decided to do anything strenuous but so far it seemed pointless. His internal fans whirred, echoing off of the silence of the rest of the mansion. The other members were all outside doing various activities pretending to patrol for danger, though it was far enough away for Rin to not hear any of it. Neon J was out at a meeting with the rest of the other NSR members so he was out of the house. While he was out, the boys weren’t allowed outside of the manor for very good reason.

Rin shifted his position on the couch to lean slightly off of it, frowning slightly. If he had lungs, he’d have yawned in boredom but with no one around to hear him simulating it seemed to be a waste of energy. A few more long, uninteresting seconds passed before an idea got into his head. He’d have to leave the mansion for it, but that was a risk he was more than willing to take.

Dashing to his own individual room, metal footsteps clunked against the wooden floor. When he reached the seclusion of his room, he reached under the bed that was there and pulled out a box. Specifically, his special disguise box that when used would help him blend in as an ordinary person. Inside was a plain grey hoodie, a pair of baggy jeans, a pair of white shoes designed to make his feet look normal enough without closer inspection, soft gloves, and a backpack for storing things.

He quickly got his things together, fans whirring in excitement. He left a note in the box where he knew the others, minus Neon J for obvious reasons, would know to look if they needed him.

“Went out. Be back before morning. You know what to do if I’m not back here by then.” it read.

After doing a final check, he closed his bedroom door and opened the bedroom windows. With practiced motions, he let himself dangle off the ledge of the window and closed it from the outside. Then using one hand to keep himself up he looked towards the fence that surrounded the abode and pushed off as hard as he could against the wall. The spikes at the top weren’t just for decoration, or a threat to not come inside. Touching one would trigger a silent alarm that would not only alert the rest of the band members, but Neon J as well.

Still, despite the momentary fear of possibly missing the jump, he cleared it as he’d done many times before. After landing on the sidewalk, he gave nervous glances to see if anyone saw him. When he realized he was alone, he quietly started to move down the streets. With night approaching, the disguise would only take him so far. He’d have to shut off the lights on his face if he wanted to progress any further than just outside the fence. Which meant turning off his visual sight, relying on internal maps and radar pings. He’d only jumped the fence a handful of times so it was still somewhat new to him and he’d never jumped without the other 1010 members.

This mission though, he had to go solo. He’d never hear the end of it from the others if he told them where he was going.

* * *

After a few close calls, detours, and momentary pauses to make sure no one was following him, Rin finally arrived at the sewer grate. The one blip faintly on the edge of his radar indicated it was likely that either Zuke or Mayday were indeed home. He allowed himself a moment to turn his vision back on so he could properly see, and gave the code knock quietly.

Having become more popularized, the two members of Bunk Bed Junction gave the other trusted artists a secret knock to avoid the unruly and unscrupulous fans from swarming their home. Rin was thankful that Mayday convinced Zuke to give it to the NSR members as well. He’d learned it through Neon J and since then he’d make occasional trips when he had free time. Full note, two quarters, one single. Tap…. tap-tap, tap.

A moment passed, then another. Rin looked around to make sure that no one was there with him. His internal fans increased slightly, and he was tempted to check the radar again when he saw and heard the manhole slide open. Seeing a familiar green face and red eyes Rin felt his face pull into a wide grin. Not to say he wouldn’t have also been happy to see Mayday, but he had been hoping for a comfortable and quiet evening.

“Rin? What are you doing out here this late?” Zuke asked, peering just behind Rin and furrowing his brows in slight confusion, “And where’s the rest of your band?”

“Bored. And they’re back home.” Rin replied, shrugging it off. “Dad’s at a meeting and probably going to stay with one of the other artists to collaborate, so I’ve got all night pretty much.”

Zuke nodded. “Well, alright, better get in then before someone sees us.”

The two descended the manhole into the lower depths. Rin was sure to close the cover behind them. Though he was sure no one saw he did one radar check to make absolutely certain before following Zuke.

Bunk Bed Junction’s home was as cosy and modest as ever. Rin always wondered why they never got an apartment- it’d be more sanitary at the very least, and he was sure that organic beings needed cleanliness to not get sick. Still the two never seemed to actually get sick despite their living arrangements. They were either very lucky or very strong. Rin liked to think that they were both though.

Zuke flopped on the couch, indicating for Rin to sit next to him. The android took a seat and pulled his hood down, brushing his fingers through his synthetic hair and messing it up a bit. Zuke was looking at him and Rin couldn’t help but give a smirk.

“Like what you see~?” Rin chirped, unable and unwilling to stop his basic ‘perfect boyfriend’ protocol that he was given. Zuke simply gave a non-committal hum and picked up the remote from the coffee table.

“I was about to sit down and watch a documentary.” Zuke replied, deftly changing the subject, “Though if you want we can watch something else.”

Rin looked at the title: “Ba-bump!: The Natural Rhythm of Life”. Seemed to be a documentary on the cardiovascular system.

“I’m up for anything really.” Rin said, “And I don’t think I’ve seen this one before.”

“That’s because it just released last week.” Zuke mentioned, hitting play on the remote, becoming fully engrossed within minutes.

As the documentary progressed, Rin felt his attention becoming less focused on the documentary and more on Zuke. Sure the silence was comfortable, but it was still stretching for far too long. Rin felt fidgety, anxious even. He didn’t want to break the silence and since Zuke seemed so interested in the documentary Rin definitely didn’t want to ruin Zuke’s fun. Eventually, Rin scooted closer to Zuke, hoping the other wouldn’t notice.

Rin’s circuitry was buzzing, making his metal tingle. He would have swallowed a bit thickly if he had any throat for which to swallow with. This unsettling and restless behaviour. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it made him feel a little more hollow than before when he had left Baracca Mansion.

About thirty minutes into the documentary, Zuke paused it and turned to Rin.

“Something wrong?” Zuke asked.

“Ah-! No. Nothing’s wrong!” Rin hastily answered. Zuke arched an eyebrow, and Rin felt his fans whir a little bit harder.

“I was… uh…” Rin scrambled for an explanation before settling on the first one he could put together, “I was just wondering what your heart sounded like!”

Zuke gave a bit of a puzzled look but gave a small chuckle at what Rin said after a moment. The android heard his fans kick into high-gear to keep him from overheating with embarrassment.

“Well, come here then.” Zuke said, reclining back as far as he could go.

Rin looked at Zuke a bit surprised but wasn’t going to let this opportunity slide. Rin rested his head on Zuke, his long legs dangling off the armrest at the far end of the couch and his back resting in Zuke’s lap. At first he didn’t hear anything. Maybe the vest and shirt were muffling the sound? He wasn’t sure. Or maybe he was on the wrong side of Zuke’s chest-

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

Rin heard it. After a moment of silence, he could hear the heartbeat and there was a bit of tingling again in his circuitry. This time it was a mostly good tingling, Rin determined. He sat there for a while listening to Zuke’s heartbeat. The gentle thrumming of the organ was soothing. Real. Tangible. It was nice sitting together like that, though Rin felt a pang of melancholy creep up as he listened to it.

Then he felt Zuke’s hands brush through his hair. Zuke was gently combing at the synthetic fibers. Rin felt a sudden strange mixture of feelings wash over him. Relief, joy, excitement - but most importantly, catharsis was the strongest of all of those feelings. Rin gripped a little tighter on Zuke’s shirt. If he had tear ducts with which to cry with, he would most certainly have been shedding tears.

“You okay?” Zuke asked, a bit more gently. It was quiet, serious. But it wasn’t without warmth.

“I don’t know.” Rin replied after a moment. Zuke was silent, so Rin continued, “I’ve just been feeling… restless back home. Everything’s just the same, constantly. Rehearsal or concerts, constant banter between the times when the fans can’t see us, then overnight recharge before doing it all over again. And, well, it’s not like I can just go anywhere I want. Not without getting jumped by fans or getting a lecture from Dad J. I mean he has certain rules in place for a reason but it’s all so...”

At this point Rin was rambling up until the end of that last remark, but Zuke continued to gently run his finger’s through Rin’s hair.

“Suffocating?” Zuke guessed.

“Yeah.” Rin muttered. “I guess I just needed to get away from it all. Just for a moment.”

Zuke nodded. His phone buzzed nearby, and after taking a glance at it, he set it back down. Rin glanced up at Zuke with a bit of a questioning look, the man was as calm as ever.

“Mayday’s going to be out for the rest of the night.” Zuke explained, “If you want, we can watch the rest of the documentary or just sit in silence for a bit.”

“I’m okay with either.” Rin said after a moment.

As Zuke resumed the documentary, Rin continued to listen to Zuke’s heartbeat feeling the warmth radiating from his skin under the clothes, until eventually he fell into sleep mode, finally not feeling so hollow.


	2. Unspoken Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuke wakes up to a robot in his lap and thinks about the prior night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brain go brr with Onionshipping. This was originally meant to just be a one-shot but my brain suddenly had ideas and I wanted to expand upon what I built in the last chapter.

Zuke awoke with a start as his internal alarm clock went off exactly just before sunrise. Even down here, he could hear the city above starting to wake up. Aunty was opening her shop and the sounds of crowds walking around alone would be enough to wake him. The cavernous system of the sewers lended to wonderful acoustics - but it also allowed above-ground sounds to bounce and echo enough to wake Zuke, who was already a fairly light sleeper. What made it worse sometimes was how Zuke’s ears were sensitive to sound; not just noise, but subtle tones too. It made it way easier to tell when someone was outright lying and to understand what beat to play to match the mood.

Zuke took a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes and stretch; realizing his legs were receiving pins and needles Zuke looked down and saw Rin still in sleep mode on his lap. A pair of old headphones was blasting rock music, likely to charge Rin while he was off. At first Zuke, still half-asleep, was confused as to why the leader of the 1010 boy band was on his lap. Once enough of his brain cells woke up, he remembered Rin coming in last night. The cuddling session seemed to turn into a sleepover - and considering he hadn’t been woken up to Mayday squealing with joy over the fact Rin was here and asleep on Zuke’s lap meant that she wasn’t here. Zuke was thankful for that fact as he’d been exhausted himself lately with concerts and fan gatherings and photo ops - since Bunkbed Junction was becoming more and more popular he’d found less and less time to himself without scheduling it in. Speaking of...

The rockstar looked at his phone and was thankful he remembered to put it on the charger before he passed out. He took a look at the calendar to make sure there wasn’t anything coming up. He found it impossible to keep track of everything through memory alone nowadays. With Mayday being as unintentionally reckless as she was, she would often lose any physical planning book or calendar that Zuke would take with them, so he’d taken to using electronic system. He did most of the planning between the two of them and set the system to notify both him and Mayday of upcoming events. It was a clean and effective system.

Looking at the calendar now, he was thankful to see a clear schedule with only one event: vacation. Even rockstars needed time for themselves. He was only into the second day of it too, meaning he’d have plenty of time to relax as he needed. Now that he was assured that he wasn’t in a hury to do anything today, he got comfortable and picked up a nearby puzzle book he’d gotten. Zuke hadn’t finished much of it, so it would be a good way to pass the time while Rin got his rest. Despite the pins and needles that Zuke was feeling, he didn’t want to move and wake the robot.

While he was doing his puzzles, Zuke thought back to last night. What had been said, spoken and in the undertone of Rin’s voice.

 _“Bored.-”_ **_I’m restless._ ** _“-And they’re back home.”_ **_I need a break from my brothers for just a little while._ **

It was just by those first two comments alone at the start of their night that Zuke knew Rin’s extroverted mask was crumbling from the inside. Zuke, probably more than anyone else that Rin knew, understood what it was like to need to take a break from family and brothers. Zuke often needed to get away from DK West once Zuke was in college.

 _“Dad’s at a meeting and probably going to stay with one of the other artists to collaborate, so I’ve got all night pretty much.”_ **_Probably with DJ Nova, not that I mind but Dad’s been spending more and more time with him..._ **

Zuke and West had been on good terms with both of their parents, right to the end. Though Zuke could empathize with Rin’s feelings of being distant from family - his relationship with West had been rocky during all that chaos after college and after West ran away from his own revolution. If May hadn’t been there, Zuke wasn’t sure if he’d still think West as his brother - but with a parental figure, he wasn’t sure if he could fully understand that kind of loneliness.

 _“I’m up for anything really.”_ **_I need a distraction from everything._ **

Zuke understood what it meant to need to take a break from work, but Rin sounded so desperate despite him trying to hide it with a neutral tone. The autotune sometimes betrayed what Rin tried to cover by leaving very subtle and emotional notes that’d go unheard by normal ears. The other members of 1010 were like that, now that Zuke thought about it.

 _The slight body movement and whirring from his fan as he tried to pay attention to the documentary from last night._ **_Please, don’t leave me alone with my own thoughts, I do that enough as is._ **

Zuke hadn’t really been paying attention to the documentary either, listening to hear if Rin would open up. Mayday sometimes acted the same way, stubborn and not wanting to admit she wasn’t feeling cheerful. He was glad when Rin decided to open up to Zuke, at least a little.

 _“I don’t know.”_ **_No. I’m not okay right now._ **

Baby steps, Zuke thought at the time. And as he listened to Rin talk about how he felt, Zuke couldn’t help but sympathize. He’d do what he remembered his mom doing whenever he’d been upset - gently comb through his hair and just listen. Give advice if it was needed, but above all else just be there for him to dump all of his problems into the air so he could sort them out. Mayday did that a lot when her stubbornness finally caved - rant for hours on end, upending furniture and tossing pillows while Zuke was on standby to help keep her from breaking too many things.

He was glad he managed to get Rin to fall asleep, though he didn’t want an incident like the first visit happening again - Rin barely having enough power to get him back home to recharge, Neon J was very upset about the entire situation - so he followed some of Eloni’s advice whenever he needed to get a charge before a concert. Since everything electronic was powered through music, so too were the members of 1010 powered in the same way. The “Operation: Party All Night” wasn’t just a cute nickname to keep the boy band running all the time, it was literal in case of power emergencies like the blackouts that used to happen.

Zuke had slipped on a pair of old earphones for the music to effectively recharge him over his stay. The only thing he had within arms reach was one of the early albums from Bunkbed Junction. He hoped Rin didn’t mind that he had been recharged with rock music. At some point late into the night, Zuke couldn’t stay up any longer and simply fell asleep on the couch.

And now they were here, Zuke having gone through a handful of puzzles in the peace and relative quiet of the sewers. The battery on the CD player had finally sputtered out, silence coming from the headphones. Taking a look at the time it had been an hour since Zuke had woken up. The sun was likely just starting to peak out from the horizon or perhaps it was already up considering the public sounds were echoing a little more loudly in the sewers.

Zuke ran through the synthetic fibers of Rin’s hair to try to gently wake the robot up. The dim glow from the roots indicated he did have power, though how much would be a question that could only be answered once Rin finally got up. The fibers, Zuke noticed, were a lot less stiff when they weren’t powered on. It flowed like real hair, though it felt different. Less silky, and more akin to smooth plastic. From there, the shutters in Rin’s eyes that imitated eyelids slowly opened, a dim glow of light emanating from him. It was hardly enough to even light the area around the eyes, but he gave a lazy smile up to Zuke.

“Good morning, babe~” Rin chirped, the audio coming out soft, but clearly.

“Sleep well, I’m guessing?” Zuke hummed softly, still brushing his fingers through the hair.

“Mmhmm.” Rin replied, releasing a fake yawn as his fans fully whirred to life. He sat upright, giving Zuke some much needed normal blood flow, and stretched. The lights in his face and all over his body slowly lighting up as he moved his limbs. Soon, he was the brightest thing in the room, and Zuke had a hard time looking directly at him.

Realizing this, Rin dimmed his lights down “Whatever you did worked wonders on my battery.” **_I feel a little overcharged..._ **

“I had you listen to some music while you were off.” Zuke said, “Eloni’s idea, not mine.” he added, shrugging.

Rin thought for a second, and as he did, Zuke’s phone started to ring. “Hello?”

“Uh… hey, Zuke right?” came the voice on the other end. Zuke recognized it as one of the other 1010 members - from the more gentle tone it sounded like Haym, and from the way it wavered slightly he could tell something was wrong.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Zuke asked, calm as ever.

“Uh… well- Is Rin there with you?” **_Please say yes._ ** Haym asked, almost too afraid to hear the answer.

“Mmhm. He is.” Zuke added, looking over to Rin. Said robot’s eyes widened and he looked around for a clock to look at.

There came a simulated sigh of relief. Then a somewhat distant “He’s with Zuke!” **_Thank goodness!_ ** as Haym presumably moved the phone away from his face. Then there was an even more distant “Hand the phone over, soldier.” and a shuffling noise before Zuke could clearly hear what was said next.

“Let me talk with him.” Neon J demanded. There was a bit of stern fatherly disappointment in his tone, but also tremendous relief. Zuke did as he was told, and Rin took it from him with some hesitation.

“H-Hello?” Rin looked incredibly nervous.

Zuke could hear Neon J shouting over the phone, about rules and Rin breaking them. Despite how serious he was, Zuke could hear the relief and parental concern throughout the loud and authoritative tone. Neon J was just as much of a father to his robots as much as he exuded militaristic values in public, as anyone who personally knew him would know. Zuke remembered the one time West convinced him to jump over the fence to go out into the outskirts of Vinyl City so they could stay up and see the stars when they were younger. They both got a similar kind of scolding from their father, but Zuke knew that it came from a place of love and concern. Rin was in a bit of trouble, but Zuke knew Neon J wouldn’t do anything that would be out of line.

Still, Zuke thought about why Rin had come here in the first place… Why not go to Neon J if he was feeling upset and stifled? Zuke, while tuning out the conversation Rin was having, thought on it.

 ** _I’m restless._** **_I need a break from my brothers for just a little while._** _“Dad’s at a meeting and probably going to stay with one of the other artists to collaborate-”_ ** _Probably with DJ Nova, not that I mind but Dad’s been spending more and more time with him... I need a distraction from everything._** **_Please, don’t leave me alone with my own thoughts, I do that enough as is._**

**_I’m not okay right now._ **

It hit Zuke in that moment, Rin probably felt that he _couldn’t_ talk with just anyone about it except Zuke. Rin wasn’t just feeling restless: he was feeling ignored and trapped. The shouting probably wasn’t helping things, but Zuke couldn’t blame Neon J for reacting like that. The few tales he’s heard from various NSR members, including the very few times he’s been able to get a story from Neon J himself, it seemed that 1010 had more rabid fans than all the other NSR artists put together - the only one that could possibly tie or maybe even surpass them in terms of overzealous nature would be Sayu, but she had the fortune of being holographic, and thus unable to be grabbed at in the same way that the boys could.

Still, Zuke could see Rin building up the same walls towards the rest of his family that Zuke had built towards DK West when he’d started to feel that same kind of resentment. Zuke had Nadia at the time. Even if it ended on a sour and fiery note, at least he had _someone_ to talk to about his feelings. Zuke watched as Rin, through a clenched jaw, hung up the phone and handed it back to Zuke. Rin sat on the couch holding his face in his hands. His fans were whirring loudly, and from the silence, Zuke could guess he was feeling frustrated again.

Zuke gently reached for Rin’s back, gently patting it. Rin looked up, as if he’d forgotten where he was for a moment and took a second to make an attempt to relax before he said anything.

“Dad’s going to be here in a few minutes to pick me up.” Rin said, **_Though I don’t want to go back right now. Or ever._ **

“Mmh. I guessed as much.” Zuke replied, “If you want, when he gets here I can go up with you-”

“No! No. It’s fine. Really.” Rin replied hastily, “It’ll be fine. I’ll just be grounded for a little while.” **_A long while, in reality._ **

“I insist.” Zuke said, “Besides, we can wait outside for a moment. If any fans try to grab at you, I can be your bodyguard.” he continued to offer.

Rin looked thankful. “Tempting to meet some fans before I get locked up, but no. Dad said specifically to stay in the sewers until he got here.”

“Well, alright.” Zuke said, watching as Rin gathered his things.

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, there came the code knock: tap…. tap-tap, tap. Zuke and Rin went to the foot of the sewer ladder, Zuke climbing up to move the manhole cover. There just outside was Neon J and the other 1010 members. Zuke couldn’t hear any fans gathering. It seemed that they’d also managed to throw off their trail at least for now.

Rin nervously started climbing up when he saw the glowing green radar blipping. Zuke moved up through the manhole to allow Rin to step up. Zuke could see there was a limo parked in just such a way where anyone trying to peer through to the other side would have to either get on their stomach and not see much, or have to stand on someone else’s shoulders to see what was going on. The air was tense, and all the boys were peering over Neon J’s shoulders. They were all happy to see Rin was unharmed but they were also looking at Neon J nervously.

“In the vehicle, _now._ ” Neon J stated to Rin, then looked back at the others, “That goes for the rest of you as well!” he added, practically barking the order to the others.

“Yes, sir!” they replied in unison, getting into the limo quickly. Rin dared to take a quick glance back at Zuke before he was pulled in by the other 1010 members.

Neon J then turned to Zuke. “Thank you for keeping my soldier safe, civilian. You’ve done this unit a great service.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Zuke replied, “But before you go, I should probably say something. You’re likely not in the right mindset right now but just... hear me out on this.”

“I’m listening.” **_Make it quick._ ** Neon J said, as politely as he could.

“Once both you and Rin have calmed down try talking with him.” Zuke started, “He’s been feeling restless lately, and there’s probably a reason for that.” Neon J said nothing, so Zuke continued. “He didn’t exactly say what was bothering him, but maybe there’s a reason he decided to break whatever rules you have and come to me for comfort and advice. If nothing else, just listen to what he has to say.”

“Very well. I will take that into consideration, civilian.” **_Hm. Perhaps I’ve also made a misstep here._ ** Neon J said after a moment, “Thank you. If that is all, I will take my leave here.”

“Yeah, take care.” Zuke said, climbing back down as Neon J went over to the limo. As he closed the manhole lid behind him, he could hear the sounds of the limo leaving, echoing through the sewers. Zuke took a moment to cross his fingers for Rin, hoping that whatever came next was going to be helpful to both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had a different idea I wanted to write about but then my brain said "no, ignore that idea, what you need is more soft boy cuddles and maybe some more hurt/comfort stuff too". Wrote this in an entire afternoon in a cold sweat to make sure the idea didn't leave me.
> 
> By the way, the lighting idea totally isn't mine, thanks to [hellofirsttimecaller](https://twitter.com/Odistheknight) on Twitter for that. Specifically [this post](https://twitter.com/Odistheknight/status/1316128879250112518?s=20) is what I drew inspiration from.
> 
> Fun fact about me, I like to write listening to music that has a particular feel to the scene I want to convey, but for the entirety of both this and the previous chapter, I was just listening to Analog Aquatics. So I'm not sure if that reflects in my writing or not. Speaking of, feel free to leave constructive criticisms in the comments on how I write - I genuinely can't tell if I'm good at this or not. I also don't have anyone to beta my stories except the free version of Grammarly so, you know, there's that small issue as well.


	3. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neon J reflects and has a talk with his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. I added a swear word at the start. Gotta up that rating so the kiddies don’t go filling their vocabulary with nothing but vulgar language I guess.

As Neon J approached the limo, Zuke’s words stuck with him. The manager knew of Zuke’s brother - the unintentional young, chaotic start-up that was DK West. Neon J wondered how the two were related when they were in such stark contrast to each other. One was a fully mature adult with a promising career, and the other was a large man-child. Not to mention Mayday, though Neon J was a little softer about her. Mainly because she could actually and has already legitimately kicked his ass. Anyone that had the strength to back up what they said and believed in was someone that Neon J could relate to on a personal level. Neon J saw both members of Bunkbed Junction as equals in arms.

So when Zuke had given him that advice, Neon J had decided to not take it with a grain of salt. Once he climbed in the members of the boy band looked up at their father-slash-manager. Though he couldn’t actually see it, he could sense the tense mood in the air from what his radar counted as five individuals with him in the car. One of the drawbacks and perks of having a radar instead of eyes. Another perk was that his radar tended to work better in enclosed spaces, allowing him to see more of what was around him at any given time. As such, he almost immediately noticed the bag that Rin had with him though he wouldn’t make a remark on it.

The ride was mostly silent as the boys continued to glance at each other, waiting for either Rin or Neon J to start talking. The captain thought to himself how he was going to handle the situation - sending Rin to his room first and foremost so they could both have a moment to themselves before talking would be the best option. Though depending on how the conversation went after that, he would have to determine if further punishment was required.

When they arrived back at Baracca Mansion, Neon J was the first to step out, the other five following suit. They were now well and truly within the safe enclosure of the walls. Though there were fans outside were all gushing over all of the 1010 members, hardly noticing the situation at hand, choosing to take photos. The boys, even Rin, posed for the cameras and did some impromptu public wefies - though they didn’t dare to actually go near the gates. The last time one of them did, Haym lost an arm. They were less likely to get attacked though as the security drones that Neon J had made would make sure that none of his boys were harmed.

When all was said and done, and the six of them were behind the closed doors of the mansion, Neon J turned to all of them. They all stood at attention waiting for further instructions. The air was still thick and tense with uncertainty as it usually was whenever Neon J caught one of them breaking rules.

“Rin, you are to head to your room and await further instructions.” Neon J spoke sternly, his commanding tone echoing off of the entryway, “The rest of you are free to do as you wish, but you are not to go outside under any circumstances until this is resolved. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir!” They all responded in unison.

“Dismissed!”

Neon J watched as Rin and Haym walked off towards Rin’s room, while the other three headed in different directions. Neon J himself went to the mansion’s kitchen to eat and drink. Though he was mostly robotic at this point, the few points of his body that were still very much organic required his attention to maintain. These days it was just organs that were absolutely required for his brain to still function. What missing organs he had were replaced with robotic components - but each day he felt his organic parts deteriorate ever so slightly.

He’d already had to replace so much of himself from his time in the war. Missing limbs from amputations and landmines were easy enough. The technology had already existed at that point and Neon J just refined it to the point where if he wore prosthetic skin over it, they wouldn’t know the difference. Then came the long-term effects of the chemicals that he and his friends on the battlefield had been exposed to. He’d managed to survive with his few organs, using the ever-looming threat of his imminent death as a means to push late into the night and develop technology that would help him and any survivors. Neon J’s comrades weren’t so lucky.

Grabbing a tube and opening a panel on his arm, he attached the hose to a port on the inside, he had to practically jam it in - he’d need to replace that part in his arm so it would click into place like it was supposed to - before he could shove liquidized food into it. These tubes lead directly to what remained of his stomach. From there, the machines and his organic parts would do the rest to keep him alive. Once he was done eating, he flushed the tubes with water, getting a small drink to go with what he ate. The war veteran missed the taste of food sometimes... 

Once that was settled Neon J would take a stroll around the mansion to allow Rin a little more time to think and settle down before Neon J could truly talk with him. It was also an excellent chance to check up on the rest of the security in the halls and other rooms. As Neon J did so, he reflected on the past a bit more, before he became a soldier when he was younger and life seemed just a little sweeter. He recalled all of the times he’d decided to sneak out of the house, away from his parents, or break the rules out of spite. His father was strict, also a soldier, and was a real no-nonsense man and his mother wasn’t really much better.

They cared for him in their own way, and he was sure that they loved him, but there was always that lingering doubt especially with his own father. Neon J’s father often put him through military punishments for failing to meet his parent’s high standards. He had a curfew up until he moved out on his own, and when he found out he wasn’t just attracted to females, his parents continued to pretend that wasn’t the case. They were controlling and barely let Neon J have a say in his own future.

The reason Neon J had made the members of 1010 the way they were was two-fold. Sure, NSR needed more artists at the time, but Neon J had also decided a long time ago that he wanted a family. Considering the chemicals had essentially made him infertile long before he had to replace his body parts, this was conceivably the only way he could have children outside of adoption. He had tried to adopt - several times. But each time he was rejected, despite meeting all of the requirements. It became harder once he had to start replacing limbs. And after he became the manager of a boy band? The issue became time. He was so busy working behind the scenes that he wouldn’t have had time to care for a child.

Fortunately for him, the boy band he had made through sheer determination alone was his family. The first few attempts at the current versions of the boys were sleepless nights. Neon J wanted them to be as realistic and close to human as he could make them with what he had. An array of problems continued to crop up as he continued to develop them. Materials, power arrangements - and coding. So many nights spent to make sure the syntax was all correct. In its own way, it was similar to the strenuous process of pregnancy; only with way more migraines and fewer physical restrictions on his end.

Back to the previous point though, Neon J wanted to have a family that wasn’t nearly as restrictive as his family was. Sure, everything in their family unit was definitely militaristic, but that’s what happened when you decided to undertake to make military equipment and to transform it into sentient band members. At the very least it was a baseline that Neon J was familiar with and if nothing else there was a base that could be fallen back to if the absolute worst was to occur. He didn’t want to think of things like that though, especially not with his boys. He’d seen more than enough death in his time and he’d do anything to keep them safe.

As he thought this, he found himself in front of Rin’s bedroom. Checking his sonar - yes, someone was in there. Good, Rin had stayed in his room for the most part. Neon J heaved a sigh through his lungs and knocked on the door. He heard a slight shuffling movement before he entered.

His sonar pinged showing the room, with Rin standing at attention.

“Attention!” Rin stated, saluting when Neon J was fully inside.

“At ease, soldier.” Neon J said, closing the door behind him.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. It was uncertain and awkward, though Neon J was the first to break it. He strode over to the bed and sat on it, indicating for Rin to sit next to him.

“Let’s talk for a moment.” Neon J said.

“Uh… okay.” Rin replied, a bit of uncertainty in his voice. Rin moved to sit next to his father figure, the bed shifting under his weight.

There was another moment of silence.

“Is everything alright, soldier?” Neon J asked, “Not physically I mean. Are you alright?”

Rin took a moment to respond. Neon J’s internal radar detected four other people on the other side of the door, and if he listened closely, he could hear some shoving and quiet bickering. He didn’t make any indication to Rin what was going on, as Neon J wanted all five of them to understand and hear what he was going to say.

“I… Yes? No? I don’t know. I guess I’m just tired? And...”

Rin turned to look at Neon J, trailing off the end of the sentence. There was a moment of hesitance.

“And?” Neon J prompted, trying to not sound aggressive.

There was still hesitance. Rin was trying to form the words it seemed - though with the way that his fans were whirring it seemed like there was more to it than just correct phrasing. Neon J was patient though, waiting for Rin to sort out his thoughts.

“It just feels like everything is the same day in and day out.” Rin finally said, “Since everything that happened with Bunkbed Junction and all the new artists popping up, we’ve just been… so busy with everything. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing what we do, don’t get me wrong, I still love performing. It just feels like…”

And here, Rin struggled with forming the proper words again. Neon J was listening throughout the entire thing, very carefully considering his own words.

“It feels like that I can’t breathe,” Rin continued, “and that if I say or do anything that isn’t exactly what you want me to be, you and everyone else will be disappointed in me - and well, disappointment can be explosive. Or worse, that you’ll replace me”

At this, Neon J immediately spoke up.

“Put that thought out of your head, soldier. That won’t happen.”

“Huh?” Rin sounded very confused.

“First of all, I am proud of you, no matter what happens.” Neon J started, his tone becoming just ever so slightly softer, “From the moment you first stepped out of the robot factory, I have never been disappointed or want to replace you. Even when you break rules, I won’t ever replace you or your brothers. As for what happened back fighting Bunkbed Junction, I didn’t want to have that kind of programming in any of you. With NSR and all the blackouts at the time I had no choice but to give Tatiana a reason for us to not fail outside of the power issue. Since then, I’ve removed it.”

Rin considered for a moment. “Then what about the factory? When we get broken we just pop back out with a replacement as if nothing ever happened.”

Neon J heaved another sigh through his lungs, this one much more shaking and full of burden than the one earlier. “I have… seen many people around me die. As a soldier, I saw things no one should ever have to go through. The thought of losing more people close to me is unbearable. The factory isn’t perfect either - I spent so many days and nights repairing it after the revolution, and I was so worried. Worried that none of you would return to me.”

There was another moment of silence. Even the boys on the other side of the door were quiet at this point - the weight of his own burdens had clouded the atmosphere and pressed on them. All five of them at one point or another had heard Neon J’s own worries about this. They all knew why he had made the rules that he did.

“If I’m being too restrictive, I apologize.” Neon J said after a moment, “I’m just afraid of what will happen if one day something happens - if I can’t repair you, or if there’s a malfunction in the factory.”

“Okay, but what about DJ Subatomic Supernova?” Rin asked, “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

At this, Neon J was glad he didn’t really have a face. It’d be completely red with embarrassment. “Ah… yes that. Well, yes it is true that I have been seeing him more frequently both during and after work.”

“You’re going to leave us for him.” Rin said, almost as if it were fact.

“No. Absolutely not.” Neon J replied, keeping an even tone, “You boys are my pride and joy. Nova and I have been spending time together, but I won’t leave any of you. I apologize if it has come off that way.”

There was more silence as Rin processed what was said.

“Is there anything else on your mind?” Neon J asked, after Rin had a moment.

“No, sir.” Rin replied. Neon J nodded.

“Now, we can discuss about the rules later. All six of us.” he said, standing up, “Just promise me next time that if you’re going to go somewhere, at least mention where you’re going to go instead of leaving a cryptic note for me to find. Or just tell me.”

At this, Neon J went over to the door and flung it open. The other members of 1010 were standing just beyond the doorway, all of them deers caught in headlights.

“What the-” Rin sounded surprised, standing from the bed.

“That goes for all of you.” Neon J said, his voice returning back to it’s usual firm and commanding tone. “No more sneaking out of the house without at least letting one other person of this household know where you’re going, and by that I mean addresses or notable landmarks. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir!” They all chimed in unison.

“Good.” Neon J nodded, “Now, you boys get some rest and relaxation for the rest of today, you’ve got a big day ahead of all of you tomorrow. I’ll be in the workshop if you need me for anything.”

As he walked off, he could hear Zimelu say to Rin “So… Zuke, huh?” and could practically hear the eyebrow wiggling in the tone of his voice.

“Shut up.” Rin groaned.

Neon J internally smiled. They were all still just young boys at heart, and haven’t yet fully grasped themselves, their identities, or the world at large. That was okay. They were learning, becoming more and more mature with each new experience. Moreover, they were his family - he was just as much of their father as they were his sons. For all of their mistakes and flaws, he had unconditional love for them. That, more than any lesson in the world, was the one he wanted to leave with 1010.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha, so uhhhhhhhh, I tried to make this chapter longer than the other two. Also, I don't see enough father-son bonding between Neon J and any other member of 1010 on this website so I tried to do my ~~civic duty~~ best on that front. Dunno if this will have more chapters after this but I do always have ideas brewing in my head so who knows.


End file.
